Wrapped in Shadows
by Poyomon2
Summary: After his father's refusal to come back after the Cell Games, Gohan's life is thrown into disarray. Half a year later, his mother dies after giving birth to Goten. Leaving Goten with the Briefs, he leaves Earth in order to train, before returning to fulfill the promise he made to his mother. The promise? Going to High School.


Goku's voice rang out through their minds. " _Guys, don't bring me back to life!_ "

Krillin was the first to respond. "Why, Goku? You need to come back and protect the Earth!"

Gohan was confused by his father's reaction. Why would he _want_ to stay dead?

 _"If you guys bring me back to life, that will just put the Earth into more danger! All of the threats that came to attack Earth were all targeting me, so if I'm not there, they'll stop coming!"_ Gohan clenched his fists in rage. As usual, his father was using misguided logic that only favoured his opinion and not anybody else's. He was completely ignoring the fact that none of the threats were directly coming to Earth to fight with him.

Gohan knew that his father, being the training maniac that he was, almost definitely wanted to stay away from his responsibilities to his family. After his fight with Cell, Gohan had realised that the reason his father couldn't beat Cell was because he hadn't trained hard enough. He'd been forcing Gohan to train as hard as he could, but in the last third of the time, Gohan had seen him relaxing at some times, but still with a confident smile on his face. At the time, Gohan had thought that his father had obtained the power needed to beat Cell, but now, of course, Gohan knew that it was because his father had seen him ascend past the original Super Saiyan level.

Gohan didn't even bother to consider the others in the group. He hadn't seen even one of them be willing to help him during his fight with Cell. Granted, he did have his back turned most of the fight, but what he did see was mainly just them talking. They hadn't had any intention to fight, so why did they even go? He even doubted that they'd trained as hard as they could for the Androids, simply because his father was there and his father was the 'Protector of the Earth'. They all believed that if Goku was there, everything would be perfectly fine. Even then, they all believed that fights had to be 'fair', which is why his father had given Cell a senzu bean.

By the time Gohan had collected his thoughts and began to open his mouth, the rest of the group were already voicing their agreement for the idea. They were even smiling! How could they even do that? He couldn't trust them with anything!

 _"Well, I guess I'll leave it to you guys, then! Don't forget to train hard, Gohan! Now you're the protector of the Earth!"_ Gohan put a fake smile on and nodded, but inside he was enraged. Saying his farewells to the others, he quickly jumped off from the Lookout and flew away. His father was a coward. He knew it! His father, the 'Protector of the Earth', was staying dead, just so that he could train as much as he wanted! Did he not care that he had a family?

* * *

Gohan returned home quickly, and as he entered the house, he was set upon by his mother, who was looking extremely worried.

"Gohan! You're back! How dare you fight against that monster! You need to get back to your studying! Oh, when your father gets home I'm going to have to talk to him! You're not allowed to train anymore, young man!" His mother looked worried, but it quickly gave way to anger. "Where is Goku, anyway? I don't mind that he trains, but dragging you into it is a massive problem!" At that point, Gohan snapped.

"Why does it matter where he is? It's not like he cares about his family anyway!" Chi-Chi was shocked at his tone.

"Gohan! You are not to speak of your father in that tone! He is a great man! Of course he cares about his family!"HiHis

"Then why did he go and get himself killed against Cell? We tried to bring him back with the dragon balls, but he told us to leave him dead! He even told me to train hard, because now _I'm_ the protector of the Earth!" His mother stumbled and stepped back.

"G-Goku's dead? I don't believe you! Goku can't be dead! He's the protector of the Earth! He..." Gohan had to watch as his mother burst into tears, and he quickly rushed forward to hug and support her.

"It's okay, mum. We'll be fine. We don't need him here. It can just be the two of us." Gohan tried to console his mother, but her next words made him freeze.

"Not the two of us. Three. Three of us." Gohan's brain rushed through the possibilities. Could it be?

"What do you mean?" His mother smiled at him, even through her tears.

"Gohan, you're going to be a big brother!" Gohan's mood quickly changed at the statement.

"Really, mum? How long?"

"I'm due in about seven months. I was going to save the news for when Goku got back, but I guess that's not happening, is it?"

Although he was happy, Gohan could quickly feel the fatigue catching up to him, so he detached himself from his mother and moved to his room, where he laid down and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Six and a half months went by in a flash, and the baby was due any day now. Over the past few months, Gohan and his mother had gotten barely any visits from the rest of the group, most of which only visited once to offer their condolences for Goku's death. The last visit had been by Bulma, but it was several months ago, and it was a quick visit because she'd had a meeting to get to.

Gohan was quietly studying in his room when suddenly he heard his mother scream. Rushing downstairs, he found his mother lying on the ground, panting for breath.

"Hos.. pit.. al.." She quietly groaned and Gohan rushed to pick her up, before speeding out of the house towards the nearest city. He could feel her ki fluctuating threateningly, and frowned. What was going on? It was as if she was slowly losing strength.

He descended into the city, only taking a glance at the sign. _Satan City._ Odd, he could have sworn that it used to be named something else. Shrugging, he sped off towards the nearest hospital, stunning the receptionist as he slammed the doors open.

"I need help! My mother just went into labour!" The personnel scrambled to get Chi-Chi onto a stretcher before bringing her into a private room.

* * *

Gohan waited for hours before finally he was called into the room by a doctor.

"Kid, you have a new baby brother!" The doctor smiled at him as he beckoned, and Gohan lit up. However, the doctor's face quickly changed. "Unfortunately, your mother seems to be very weak, and we aren't sure if she's going to make it." Gohan couldn't stop himself from rushing into the room, before stopping at his mother's side. She smiled weakly at him.

"Gohan... Isn't your brother cute? He'll look just like Goku in the future." Gohan's eyes widened as he looked at the baby. He could already see the resemblance on the baby's features. He didn't let it show on his face, but he could feel hatred for his father welling up inside of him.

"What's his name?" Chi-Chi laughed weakly.

"Goten. His name... will be Goten."

"That's a great name, mum." Gohan smiled softly at the child. As he turned back to his mother, she quickly adopted a serious look.

"Gohan, you need to listen to me. You remember how Bulma visited a few months ago, right? She told me that after a Saiyan dies, their mate will progressively get weaker, up to a point. I don't want to have to leave you, but I wasn't strong enough to recover from this." Gohan paled.

"No, no, no! Don't go away! Don't leave me!" Gohan's eyes began to tear up.

"I'm sorry Gohan, but I can't avoid it. At the very least, maybe I'll be able to see Goku again, yeah?" His face transformed into a scowl.

"It's his fault! Because he chose to stay dead, you're going to die as well! It's my father's... No, it's _Goku's_ fault that you're dying!" Chi-Chi smiled sadly.

"Gohan... Bring Goten to Bulma. You can live with her and Vegeta from now on." Gohan shook his head.

"No. I can't trust any of them. They didn't even try to help against Cell! It's their fault as well!" However, Chi-Chi shook her head once more.

"At the very least, leave Goten with her. You can't raise him alone. You're not equipped to do that." Gohan frowned angrily.

"But he's my brother!" However, Gohan knew that his mother was right, so he slowly nodded his head quietly. "But, I... I suppose I have to. But that means I'm going to have to cut all ties with him. I'm not going to associate with those people." Satisfied with his answer, Chi-Chi leaned back into her bed, but suddenly started coughing badly. "What's wrong?"

"It's time for me to go, Gohan. Just... Promise me one thing, okay?" Gohan nodded, beginning to cry. "I know it sounds silly, but please, before you get too old, please go to school eventually. You'll need friends in the future, and it's hard to make those when you get older." As soon as she finished her sentence, she fell back completely as the machines flat-lined.

"No! Mum!" Doctors rushed in to check on the situation as he laid his hands on one of hers. "Mum... I promise you that I'll go to school eventually. However, there are things I need to do first." He left the room, cradling Goten in his arms. Turning, he faced one of the doctors and handed Goten to him. "Please take care of him for a while. I need to step out." Before the doctor could answer, Gohan had already left the building and flown far from the city. He descended to the ground in a forest, sulking.

However, as he stood there, his emotions turned from sadness, to pure and utter rage.

"It's their fault. Because of Goku, they didn't train. Because of Goku, they wanted it to be a 'fair' fight, so they didn't help. Goku even gave Cell a senzu bean. What made him do that? Some misguided principle. They didn't even try to stop him! They didn't even try to help, for that matter. They didn't train enough, so I had to fight their battles for them. Why me? I'm just a child. I just wanted a normal life. However, because of them, I had to train. But even so, I'll still train. I'll train to an even higher level than they could ever reach, and then I'll destroy them! Those cowards! I hate them! I _hate_ them! Because of them, Goku died! Because of Goku, mum died! It's their fault! It's all their fault!"

Gohan screamed. He let out all of his emotions, and some of his power leaked out, destroying some of the surroundings. But then something changed in him. His Ki slowly, but surely, began to transform. As he held out a ball of Ki in front of him, he slowly watched as it fluctuated, and then slowly began to turn shadowy and black. What was this? A different type of Ki?

Gohan smirked. This new Ki felt much more powerful than his old one. He would likely be able to defeat Perfect Cell with his first Super Saiyan form using this Ki. But then his smirk dropped as he remembered the events leading to this change. The price for power was truly too high. Nobody should have to lose their entire family, just to gain power.

He tested it, powering up to Super Saiyan. There was no yellow aura. Instead, there were shadows flowing smoothly around him. Rushing to a nearby lake, he looked at his reflection. The shadows were completely blocking out vision from the outside. Concentrating, he pushed the shadows out of the way. His hair was no longer the usual yellow-gold colour that it had been. Some of his hair now seemed to be coloured even darker than his base form's hair. It was as if the colour was sucking in the light. The blackness was in streaks in his hair, making it look much better than the blinding colour of the original Super Saiyan hair.

Then there were his eyes. He gasped as he saw them. Originally, the irises would turn a teal colour when he went Super Saiyan. However, now that teal was mixed with a red colour, and the whites of his eyes had turned completely black. He released the transformation. Even looking into his own eyes in that transformation made him feel terrified. He shuddered at the memory. However, he quickly stabilised himself. Figuring out this transformation of his Ki could wait. He needed to make sure Goten was somewhere he could be safe and grow up. Unfortunately, against his feelings, that place was Capsule Corporation.

Gohan sped back to the hospital, walking in and finding the doctor he had handed Goten to.

"Please hand him back to me. There are some family friends that he can be taken care of." The doctor tried to refute his decision, but the glare he gave the doctor made him go quiet as Gohan took Goten from him. "I'll be back to handle my mother's burial soon." The doctor nodded as Gohan left the hospital, intending to go to Capsule Corporation.

Landing softly out the front of the building, he laid Goten on the ground as he wrote a note and placed it with him. Crouching down, he laid his hand on Goten's head, smiling sadly.

"I'm sorry I can't be a big brother to you, Goten. Just be safe, okay?" Leaving him at the door, he quickly pressed the buzzer and flew back to the hospital. He had no doubt Vegeta would come after him as soon as he found out, so he needed to finish up quickly.

After collecting his mother's corpse, he quickly returned home and made a coffin out of one of the trees, laying her into it with some cushions.

"Mum, I'm sorry that I can't be with Goten, but what I'm going to be doing is too dangerous for him to be around. I can only hope that he'll have the childhood that I didn't." He made a headstone.

 _Son Chi-Chi: A Great Mother, Died in Childbirth._

He quickly left the area, heading to a nearby cave to rest for the night. Hours later, he awoke and was surprised to find that Vegeta hadn't disturbed him. Reaching out his senses, he found Vegeta frantically flying around the area of his home, with Bulma inside the house. Could Vegeta not sense him? That certainly seemed to be the case. Sitting against the wall, he began to make plans for the future.

* * *

Yellow eyes shot open.

"Interesting, Interesting. It's been a very long time since a being of that power level gained Shadow Ki." The being left the room he was in. As he did, he scanned the Ki more thoroughly. "Hm? This being seems to be of Saiyan descent." As he stepped out of the room, he searched for his attendant and trainer. It didn't take long.

"Whis, I'm sure you felt that Ki transformation as well."

"Of course. This is a very rare case."

"I need you to keep an eye on them for me. Wake me up once they are capable of Condensation."

"Of course, Lord Beerus."

* * *

 **End first rewritten chapter!**


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